Not Far (Completed)

An Unbreakable Bond

AN UNBREAKABLE BOND

Ezra and Piper had been spending a lot of time together over the past few weeks. She had taken him shopping, to the gallery, to movies, to get food. Ezra knew she was just trying to be nice, but he couldn't help but think maybe it was something more. He wasn't too familiar with girls and their actions and signals, but he was pretty sure she flirted with him. She never kissed him on the cheek or anything anymore, and he didn't know why, but she did touch his arm and bat her lashes, and laugh at everything he said. He knew that had to mean something.

Most of the time when they went out together, Ezra would wear a hoodie or a hat so people wouldn't recognize him. He hated that. Piper said she didn't think anyone would notice, but he knew that was a lie. He wanted to be sure the whole thing was blown over by the time he stopped hiding.

Piper had invited Ezra to a gallery right outside of town. It was way bigger than Painted Wonders and had way better artists on display. Ezra was excited. Anything that involved art was exciting to him. The gallery was called Hilton Art Museum. He assumed that meant someone named Hilton built it or owned it or whatever.

When they arrived, Ezra immediately felt calm. It was cold and smelled like furniture polish. The floors were white and shiny. Ezra felt at home. He shoved his hands in his pockets as he looked around, and Piper followed him.

There were large paintings and sculptures everywhere he looked. He was in awe.

"What do you think?" Piper asked as she linked arms with Ezra. He nodded.

"It's cool."

"Just cool? Oh, I thought you'd really like it..." She trailed off.

"I do!" Ezra corrected himself with more enthusiasm. He didn't want to make Piper feel bad. She smiled.

"Good!"

After a while of wandering the museum, Ezra came across a picture. His picture. His picture of the little boy on the dragon that he drew when he was seven. The one that was supposed to be in Painted Wonders with the rest of the lesser art. Ezra walked closer to it, shocked. It was hanging high up on the wall with a gold frame around it. The label was still the same one he had written so long ago. Dreamer's Ride. Ezra Meyers. He turned to Piper who was looking away, nervously.

"Piper, why is this here? Did you know about this?"

"I, uh...yeah. I did. I took you here to show you." She smiled. Ezra looked back at the drawing and huffed a breath. He should've been happy to see his work in such a nice museum, but something about it felt off. He realized the only reason his art was there was probably because everyone thought he was dead. This made Ezra mad. He looked around at all of the other paintings around it and looked at the artists names. He recognized some. And they were all dead now.

"Good God..." Ezra muttered. He looked around to see who was nearby, then reached up and pulled the drawing off the wall. Frame and all.

"Ezra, what are you doing?" Piper whispered. He didn't answer, he just walked towards the door. "Ezra! Stop!" Piper tugged at his sleeve. He didn't say anything or acknowledge her. As they reached the door, a security guard stopped them, and blocked the door.

"Excuse me, what do you think you're doing?" He said, smacking his gum. He was a short, bald guy. Way shorter than Ezra.

"Taking this drawing down." Ezra replied, coldly. The guard laughed and tried to take it from him.